Incoming (Part 1 of 2)

Posted on 23 Jun 2024 @ 10:50am by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Commander Morgan Tarin & Commander Allyndra illm Warraquim & Commander Marisa Wyatt & Lieutenant JG Rafe Caradec & Lieutenant JG Serran & Lieutenant JG Saelihn Valenis & Lieutenant JG Montgomery Vala & Ensign Mimi & Ensign S'Ers-a M'Lyr'Zor & Lieutenant JG Vren Vral & Ensign Asha & Senior Chief Petty Officer Goldie Brown & Master Chief Petty Officer Toren Vral

3,633 words; about a 18 minute read

Mission: Episode 19 - Tomorrow's Galileo
Location: Pleiades Cluster - USS Galileo-A, USS Galileo-B
Timeline: MD 05, 2244 hrs

[ON]

Once more, the backdrop of the expansive stellar nursery known as the Pleiades Cluster cast its colorful and sparkling hues across the silver hulls of the two Nova-class starships within the nearby vicinity. Space was vast - so unimaginably so that even the two small Federation starships which were only separated by 50 kilometers of formation distance were nothing more than tiny specks within the grander galactic environment. Insignificant to the greater universe, yet still so very important to the current and past geopolitical landscape.

USS Galileo-A had been running at reduced power mode for close to 26 hours following the loss of her warp core during the previous engagement with Romulan scout forces. It'd been a necessary sacrifice to ensure the vessel's survival yet now left the science vessel with minimal power reserves with which to work with and execute its new mission. USS Galileo-B had not suffered such a setback, but instead had taken direct hull damage to her secondary hull along the engineering decks. A single small workbee was presently outside the hull which had been conducting structural repairs over the last day, but aside from such damage, both starships continued to operate as usual in the face of eerie uncertainty.


USS Galileo-A, Deck 1

The interior of the Mark II Nova-class' command deck was dark and bathed in intermittently-pulsing tangerine strobes resulting from the Orange Alert lighting and power-consumption-reduction protocols. It was a stark departure for every bridge officer who was used to the usual bright ambient lights and serene environment usually found within the bridge during normal mission operations. Times of challenge required sacrifice, and the thinner air and reduced temperature settings were subtly noticeable to anyone who'd been on board the starship for more than a few minutes.

The bridge was currently staffed by a small cadre of senior officers. At the forward station was Caradec flanked by Vala and Vral on one side, and to the aft of the bridge were the two Operations officers Serran and Mimi at their respective stations. Sandwiched between them was the young engineer Sera who stood in front of the ship's large MSD panel, and at the center of the bridge in the command well sat the chief medical officer, Warraquim, and the yeoman, Zeror.

Allyndra settled into her spot. She was used to working the third shift here, but it seemed busier than usual. The third shift seemed always subdued. She decided that best to keep an eye on everyone since more than a few should have been off duty.

Toren's breath crystallised in the air in front of him as he kept one eye on the sensors and another on the viewscreen. Andorians loved the cold, and he'd always maintained that Starfleet kept their ships a touch on the toasty side. The current power situation had it's silver linings.

Vala was somewhat less comfortable. His initial enjoyment of the chill that reminded him of his homeworld had quickly worn off, and now he was slightly huddled over his console, appreciating the warmth of it as his fingers skittered across it's surface.

For once Mimi wished she was more feline than human and covered in much more insulating fur and was wishing for something other than bridge duty where she could move around more and warm herself up, it hadn't taken long before she'd asked to leave the bridge briefly and returned quickly with another jacket on under her uniform jacket. She tried to focus on her work but with a body built for warmer climates she was struggling.

Sera forced herself to remain focused on the master system display which continuously updated power usage throughout the ship. It was proving to be quite a fascinating challenge. She had donned cold-weather gear before the environmental reductions--a lot of good it was doing her--but was having significant difficulties maintaining her body's equilibrium. Glancing up to the chronometer, as her internal one was currently down for routine maintenance, Sera realized it had been at least 120 hours since she had gotten any meaningful rest. Things were getting rather interesting in her mind.

She suddenly became aware of a strange chattering sound that was coming from...well...her. It would appear that her body was now exhibiting bruxism in an attempt to generate warmth. It just kept getting 'better.' Delightful.

Toren’s voice carried a hint of warmth as he broke the silence of the bridge, “This chill takes me back to the Dominion War aboard the Vanguard. We were running silent in a nebula, hiding from a Jem'Hadar patrol. The environmental systems were at nigh on zero to keep our energy signature down, and it was colder than a witch’s kiss on the moons of Andoria. Spent two days wrapped in thermal blankets, telling ghost stories an' waiting for the all-clear.” He chuckled softly, his breath visible in the air.

“We learned a lot about each other in that cold. Nothing like a bit of frost to bring a crew together, eh?” His eyes twinkled as he gazed at the viewscreen, the stars unblinkingly calm beyond.

"Nekomi do not have anything like hell, but that would be my idea of it chief." Mimi told him, she longed for the Cardassian hot rock sauna holodeck program she had.

Allyndra shook her head a few times. The cold was making her sleepy. She knew that Akkadians didn't have a homeothermic metabolism. She stood and moved toward the back where there was room. Spreading her wings, she began to flap them hard but kept the pitch so she wouldn't lift. It was a way to use the flight muscles to help keep her awake and warm.

Toren chuckled at Mimi's response, "Aye, ensign, I reckon you'd not be the first nor the last to dream of a bit of warmth 'round these parts. It reminds me of an old Andorian saying, 'Keep your friends close, and your heat sources closer.'" He laughed again.

Sera listened to the back and forth banter that some of the bridge crew were engaging in. At least none of them were outright blaming her--to her face anyway--for this current discomfort. Which was ironic, because she was. Misery. Cold was misery. Next time she would simply reduce gravity, or atmosphere. Not that it was warm to begin with on a Starfleet vessel. She really should have replicated a head covering.

"I do not understand the idiom, Chief. Please explain."

"Aye, ensign," Toren chortled, his breath still visible in the frosty air of the bridge, "it's just a bit of an old saying from back home. When it's colder than the glaciers of Issa, we keep our sources of warmth close - whether that's a good fire, a hearty stew, or the company of friends or lovers."

He gestured around the bridge, "Here, it's about sticking together, both to keep the spirits up and the body warm. The cold’s a challenge, but like any challenge, it’s easier when faced with good company. Makes the warmth all the more appreciated when it comes around again, eh?” His gaze softened as he glanced back at the viewscreen, reflecting on the many times camaraderie had gotten him through colder and darker days than this.

"Ah." Sera responded. She should have been able to extrapolate that particular meaning. "Your elaboration was sufficient. I understand."

Rafe piped in and said, "Back in the 19th century on Earth, when a trail rider didn't have much money and it was cold, they would say they wondered what they did with their summer's wages, meaning they spent it all and didn't have the good sense to save it for the winter. Seems like we didn't save our summer's wages.", he said while grinning.

Serran stood at his station taking in all the banter around him He knew that Theo was probably wrapped up in a blanket and more comfortable than he was.

It was illogical to worry, nevertheless, he was worried. Not just about Theo, but the rest of the crew, and the ship as well. He forced himself to run differential equations in his head and pushed the worry away.

His eyes swept around the mood with no desire to join in at that moment.

He turned his gaze back to the console in front of him.

"We've got a glitch..an anomaly here," he reported. "Though I'm going to run a diagnostic to make sure it not a system issue."

The casual banter within the bridge was suddenly broken by a rather ominous series of LCARS chirps from the forward helm station. Several of the console's yellow and blue rectangular buttons started to flash alongside a spacial identification icon within the long-range sensor panel. Something was out there that had just been detected by Galileo's two deflector arrays.

Vala's eyes darted across the spectrum of readings that had been relayed from the sensors. His fingers skittered over the controls, attempting to improve resolution, "Commander, we have... something on long range sensors. I'm attempting to improve resolution but it appears to be on a direct trajectory to us..." He tapped the console a few more times, and frowned before sending the up to date sensor data to the other bridge stations.

Rafe looked at his panel and brought up the analysis on what the long range sensors were detecting. "Lieutenant, can you give me more clarity on what I'm seeing here? Whatever it is, it is definitely on a direct intercept course, speed is very fast but exact speed is unsure. They're still a ways out. Their origination vector is our galactic north. I'm seeing what looks like one large ship heading our way. I cannot confirm if it is only one ship, though. Montgomery, any help here?", Rafe asked.

Allyndra moved toward the railing. "See if science can link in and improve resolution."

"Yes, sir," Vala's fingers danced over the console again, silently sending out orders for his team to work on refining different aspects of the Galileo's advanced sensor array.

Several moments passed.

"We have... three ships," his eyes flicked back and forth over the readings, "At the edge of our sensor range. Confirmed to be on an intercept course..." Another moment passed as Vala interpreted the data, "High warp factor. Over warp 9." He tapped out a string of calculations, "ETA approximately... 20 hours."

"Running additional analysis, tying in the navigational array. Their speed is warp 9.32. Coming in fast.", Rafe added.

"Good job," Warraquim said as he provided the information. She used her comm badge still used to using it rather than the chair.

"Captain Tarin, Allyndra, sensors have three vessels at high warp incoming, ETA approximately twenty hours."

A long delay followed before Tarin's distinctive New York City-born-and-groggy inflection replied over the ship's internal comm system. "...Understood. I'll be there momentarily."

"They are toying with us." Sera said aloud as her attention was focused on the screen in front of her. To be honest, she didn't realize that she had spoken it aloud. It had been a week. Well at least it would be over soon, right? Approximately 20 hours...then perhaps they would be dead or in the 'correct' timeline, but were they the 'correct' people? Gah. Her head was pounding and her circular reasoning was beginning to take on a rather unhealthy feel.

Vala paused his rapid scrutiny of the incoming sensor readings and glanced across the bridge to Sera. Bleak words. Her condition had not remotely improved since he had met her in the Jeffries Tubes earlier that day. Drifting indeed... Nihilism was a natural symptom of it all. The slip into despair. Losing a grip on reality. He made a note to remind her of his offer once they left the bridge.

"Alright everyone, yellow alert. I want everyone as much as possible concentrated near sickbay or engineering. Start shutting down all but the most basics to keep the circuitry going," Allyndra ordered. She hoped Tarin would approve, but without the warp core, preserving as much power was her focus at the moment.

Nearby within the Nova-class' first deck and a mere forty paces from the ship's primary command deck, Morgan quickly roused from the short sleep she'd been attempting. Her quarters were dark and blacked out, and the cold temperature had forced her huddle into her bed's sheets and its comforter. She quickly threw her warm confines away and - already dressed in her Starfleet uniform - slipped on her boots and grabbed her PADD and personal phaser from her nightstand before heading out. She tapped the commbadge on her chest as her door parted. "Lieutenant Valenis, report to the bridge immediately."

Less than two minutes later, the starboard-side entrance to the bridge opened and Commander Tarin's tall presence paced into the command center. "Report," she said to Warraquim with still-puffy and fatigued eyes having just woken up moments ago.

Allyndra was still standing near the helm area. She turned as Tarin asked for a report. "Captain as stated three ships inbound high warp. I have currently taken us to yellow alert and ordered all personnel to be concentrated near engineering or sickbay and to shut all but most minimal needed power to elsewhere in the ship to conserve further what we have."

The dim of the lights of the ship to yellow were always an indication that a call to security was never far away. Saelihn had expected a summons to the bridge by either the captain of first officer and that expectation was very much proven. She knew the security team would react and head to pressure points on the ship such as engineering and sickbay in case of boarding but she acknowledged her call and headed to the bridge.

Entering swiftly as the doors of the turbolift closed behind her she nodded towards the CO and XO as they turned to see who had entered the bridge and she took up an auxiliary console logging in to alter its set up to a tactical configuration should the need arise for such.

Three ships inbound, Tarin repeated in her head before biting down on her bottom lip with private apprehension. The yellow alert call had been warranted and prompted a curt nod of approval to Warraquim who'd been diligent in her executive assessment. "I want us to monitor each of those tracks until they enter visual range," she instructed to the entire bridge crew before walking to stand over the blond security officer's shoulder.

"I'm assuming they're not friendly," Tarin stated the somewhat-obvious before looking at Valenis' console. "Can you get a positive identification on them from this range? Any matches to past or current Starfleet warp signatures in our database?"

Looking over the scans Saelihn frowned as she tried to get a clearer picture of what they were going to be dealing with. Time was fleeting and Human's oddly always commented on it going fast when you weren't looking. A notion Saelihn found to be very strange as it was always constant. "Would be nice if it was the Galileo's C, D and E. Then we could all have a party." she said dryly. "But sadly no, they are not Starfleet or any variations of our signatures. They seem to be different but familiar at the same time. Possibly a mix of both Romulan and Klingon but I can't say for certain. They need to get closer."

Tarin folded her arms across her chest then glanced to one of the softly-pulsing yellow alert strobes embedded into the nearby bulkhead. Curiously, a new thought crossed her mind which she hoped would be the most probable answer. "Could it be the Praxis? We haven't had contact with them in days. Perhaps they completed their mission and brought reinforcements with them to assist in our defense?" It was a long-shot, but one worth investigating.

"I'm afraid not captain." Saelihn replied. "Scanning and referencing the warp signatures of the 3 vessels reveal none are a match for the Praxis." It was said with a solemn tone. Part of Saelihn wished one was the Praxis so they could speak to Aria but sadly it didn't seem like that was forthcoming any time soon. "Given they haven't attempted to contact us does make me think their intent is not a peaceful one."

"I'm inclined to agree, lieutenant." Tarin departed her observation position behind the security officer then walked to the rear of the bridge where the two operations stations flanked the engineering consoles and its large MSD. "Open a channel to the -B," she instructed the furred Nekomi officer.

Mimi was rubbing her cold hands together when she saw Tarin coming her way, she quickly tried to cover it not wanting tot show how much she was not enjoying the cold as the woman got closer and eventually gave her an instruction. "Channel is open Sir."

The bridge's large holographic main viewscreen suddenly blinked which Tarin turned to face. On the other side was the now-familiar image of the ageing, sunk-haired Orion rear admiral. "Admiral Saalm," she spoke to the woman with a curt nod of acknowledgement. "Our long-range sensors have just detected three inbound vessels closing on our position at high warp. ETA approximately 20 hours. We can't determine their identification at this range...can you confirm our readings? Do your sensors have enough resolution to identify them?"

The sister ship's red-collared flag officer briefly acknowledged Tarin's message with a short, "Stand by..." before turning to her half-Vulcan chief science officer in the nearby alcove and giving her a nod to perform a confirmation scan.

Allyndra continued to watch, but her hearts were torn between staying here on the bridge or returning to medical, where she felt more comfortable. Eventually, she decided that there was still quite some time yet before the other ships arrived and she needed to learn more about handling situations. "Captain Tarin, if not, perhaps we can link sensors?"

"Perhaps, doctor. If nothing else, we can at least point them in the correct location to look and provide them with our telemetry," answered Tarin.

"I'm picking up three ships," Marisa confirmed. "Checking the warp signatures now." She could make a fairly accurate guess, but she still wanted to verify them so there would be no question.

Saalm moved out of the bridge's viewscreen's field of view to stand directly behind Wyatt and lean over her shoulder while watching her work. She was feeling just as impatient to receive the results as Tarin probably was, for now this could put a definitive timestamp on their collective fates. "More Romulans?"

"Not this time. They're Klingon. The warp signatures match three ships in our database." Marisa pulled up the information for the admiral to see, including data and images of the three ships. "At present speed, they'll be in range in twenty hours, seven minutes and thirty-two seconds."

The admiral shook her head with disappointment following the expected revelation. 20 hours. Not enough time. "Hold those contacts and report their position updates to me at regular frequencies," she then replied before resting a light hand on Wyatt's shoulder for private consolidation. "I fear our time in this life is about to come to an end very soon."

Marisa nodded. "As long as we get the other Galileo back first." She wasn't going to add that she and Luke were ready for death and only hoped they would go together. She was pretty sure everyone on the Galileo-B felt the same.

From the secondary ops station, Goldie looked at the small images on the viewscreen and sighed. She'd seen too much death during this war. She was tired of fighting, but if it came to it, she wouldn't give up. Surely there was a place of honor for humans?

From the engineering station on the bridge; a place she didn't frequent that often Asha looked at the viewscreen as the Klingon symbols gradually moved closer to the two Starfleet symbols. She'd tasted Klingon blood before and now knew in less than 24hrs she'd have to do it again.

Vren stared impassively on.

He had been one of only twenty survivors when the USS Challenger was destroyed in an ambush; When thousands had been killed or maimed during the assault on Starbase 91, he had not been amongst them; When the USS Endeavour had collided with a warbird he had survived for days in the ruined husk of her hull.

He had eluded death for too long. The three incoming dots would be the reckoning. What else was there left but to send the other ship back, and finally embrace the blackness of the void.

To Be Continued...

[OFF]

--

CMDR Morgan Tarin
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo-A

RADM Lirha Saalm
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Tarin]

Lieutenant JG Saelihn Valenis
Chief Security Officer
USS Galileo-A

Ensign Mimi
Deputy Operations Manager
USS Galileo-A

Ensign Asha
Engineering Officer
USS Galileo-B
[PNPC Mimi]

Cmdr Allyndra illm Warraquim
Chief Medical Officer/2XO
USS Galileo-A

Ensign S'Ers-a M'Lyr'Zor
Acting Chief Engineering Officer
USS Galileo-A

MCPO Toren Vral
Chief of the Boat
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Vala]

LTJG Montgomery Vala
Deputy Science Officer
USS Galileo-A

LTJG Rafe Caradec
Senior Conn Officer
USS Galileo-A

LTJG Serran
Operations Manager
USS Galileo-A

CMDR Marisa Wyatt
Chief Science Officer
USS Galileo-B

SCPO Goldie Brown
Operations Officer
USS Galileo-B
[PNPC Wyatt]

LTJG Vren Vral
Operations Officer
USS Galileo-B
[PNPC Vala]

RSS Feed